Machine Wars: Transformers
Machine Wars: Transformers is a TV series created by Sammonds TV in 1997. History Towards the end of the Phil Stacker era, production of the original TV series was transferred from Sunbow to Sammonds TV in 1987. Although the three-part mini-series The Rebirth was produced by Sunbow and animated by AKOM, the rest of the season (and by extension, the series), was produced by Sammonds TV and animated by Toei (the unknown studio that animated Call of the Primatives also animated several episodes). The Sammonds series ended up running through 1991. In 1993, development of what eventually became The Transformers ''began. However, after the death of Chris Latta in 1996, the movie entered development hell until finally seeing the light of day in 2013. Following the initial backlash towards ''Beast Wars, Sammonds TV began working in conjunction with KB Toys to fill the niche and reintroduce the vehicle-based bots that had been successful so many years ago. Hasbro gave its approval, and allowed the toyline to be independent of its control. As immediately as production of the toys began, production on a TV series scheduled to run three seasons began as well. Rather than have Mainframe animate the series, the company used its own in-house animation studio, using time-honored ink-and-paper techniques to match the appearance of the original cartoon. Several of the original G1 voice actors returned to reprise their roles, namely Peter Cullen and Frank Welker. Notably, however, Welker did not reprise his role as Megatron, handing the role over to Tony Jay. The series premiered in 1997 and aired three seasons of 26 episodes before ending in 2000 in preparation for the premiere of Robots in Disguise. Characters Introduced in Season 1 Autobots *'Optimus Prime' (Peter Cullen) - Leader of the Autobots. He fearlessly charges into every battle, and is the wisest of all the Autobots. Quite strangely for him, he never dies in this series. Once. *'Sandstorm' (Jerry Houser) - Optimus Prime's second-in-command. Sandstorm is in charge of all battle strategies. *'Prowl' (Michael Bell) - Head of Autobot Security and a known hater of criminals. *'Mirage' (Frank Welker) - Prowl's twin brother. He is the spy of the Autobots. *'Hubcap' (Michael Benyaer) - A disturbed Autobot who vents his frustrations by taking dead Decepticons and using them as target practice. *'Hoist' (Michael Chain) - Chief surgeon of the Autobots. *'Generics' - There are quite a few generic Autobots that only serve as cannon fodder to fill backgrounds. They are various models. Decepticons *'Megatron' (Tony Jay) - Leader of the Decepticons. He's large. He's in charge. And he hates anything that has to do with peace and justice, preferring a hegemony. *'Starscream' (Scott McNeil) - Second-in-command of the Decepticons. But, as always, Starscream seeks to usurp Megatron. It finally does happen in the third season, and he's actually a good leader. So good, he managed to nearly wipe out all life on Earth by hacking the US and Russian nuclear arsenals. *'Skywarp' (Frank Welker) - One of Starscream's brothers. Skywarp just tries to make it through one day without getting yelled at by Megatron. *'Thundercracker' (John Stephenson) - Starscream's other brother. Unlike Skywarp, who is loyal to Megatron, Thundercracker is rather rebellious, and sympathizes with Starscream's plight. When Starscream became leader, Thundercracker became his second-in-command. *'Megaplex' (Tony Jay) - A slower, weaker, dumber clone of Megatron who serves as a decoy. No matter how much he gets blown up, he always comes back in pristine condition. *'Soundwave' (Frank Welker) - Soundwave is the communications officer of the Decepticons. He is blindly loyal to Megatron, and therefore was killed by Starscream after he took control. *'Seekers' - The frontline soldiers of the Decepticons. They are all under Starscream's command, and many sympathize with his plight. Humans *'Billy Heber' (Christopher Gray) - A 16-year old boy who lives in Fresno, CA. He is the top of his class, and the most popular kid at school, but all the same, you'll never meet anyone more modest than him. He met the Autobots after being attacked by Soundwave on the way back from school. *'John Heber' (Michael Donavon) - Billy's father. He can best be described as a boy in a man's body, always working on some weird, crazy contraption that can inadvertently aide the Autobots. *'Helen Heber' (Kathleen Barr) - Billy's mother. Unlike her husband, she is level-headed, but can become very angry and explode (literally) in a fit of rage. *'Chloe Heber' (Kath Soucie) - Billy's twin sister. She is very supportive and protective of Billy, and never leaves his side. *'Ed Bigby' (Frank Welker) - The school bully who targets Billy alot. When the Autobots and Decepticons came to Earth, though, he started getting his just desserts until he was killed at the end of the first season, but not before making peace with Billy. *'Karen Krabby' (April Winchell) - Billy's cranky, child-hating teacher. She openly abuses her students physically, and feigns innocence in front of the principal. She was killed at the end of the first season after being fired and arrested. Introduced in Season 2 Autobots *'Bumblebee' (Dave Gilvezan) - An Autobot scout who appeared during a battle with the Decepticons. An old friend of Optimus Prime's from Cybertron, Bumblebee is deadly accurate. *'Ironhide' (Peter Cullen) - Another old friend of Optimus Prime, Ironhide is deadly in battle with his rocket launcher. *'Ratchet' (Garry Chalk) - Chief mechanic of the Autobots. *'Brawn' (Corey Burton) - Demolitions expert of the Autobots. Very macho, very strong, and very invincible. *'Blurr' (John Moschitta) - The fastest Autobot and fastest talker on Earth. He always shoots first. Decepticons *'Reflector' - Made up of three small robots, they combine to form a high-resolution camera for spy missions. *'Ramjet' (Bud Davis) - A Conehead Seeker. He loves to ram into Autobots. *'Scourge' (Colin Murdoch) - A dark clone of Thundercracker created after Megatron began to suspect Thundercracker was in league with Starscream. Scourge didn't last an episode before getting killed. *'Cyclonus' (Jack Angel) - A galactic bounty hunter friendly to the Decepticons. Humans *'Dr. Arkeville' (Scott McNeil) - A German scientist and Karen Krabby's replacement. He is much, much nicer than Ms. Krabby, and knows of the Transformers, often aiding Billy and Chloe in their adventures. *'Mary Weston' (Kathleen Barr) - The most beautiful girl in school who Billy had a crush on...only to find out she was a Decepticon Headmaster Junior who wanted Billy and Chloe out of the picture. *'Shuta Go' (Ian James Corlett) - A Japanese boy who came through an interdimensional portal. He is an Autobot Headmaster Junior who, when combined with his Transtector, becomes Goshooter. *'Minerva' (Robyn Ross) - Also came through an interdimensional portal, Minerva is the daughter of an ambassador for a small country near France that does not exist in this universe. Like Shuta, she is also an Autobot Headmaster Junior who combines with a Transtector (its name is the same as Minerva's). People often call Minerva Shuta's girlfriend, which they both vehemently deny. It became official in the third season. Introduced in Season 3 Autobots *'Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime' (Judd Nelson) - The newest Prime, and the last hope for humanity after Starscream devestated Earth with American and Russian nuclear weaponry. *'Arcee' (Susan Blu) - Rodimus' girlfriend. She cares deeply for humans, and is launched into a fanatical rage when she sees injured, dying, or dead humans. *'Ultra Magnus' (Robert Stack) - The last Magnus. He was supposed to lead the Earth-bound Autobots, but was killed before he could. Decepticons *'Shockwave' (Corey Burton) - Head scientist of the Decepticons. He is blindly loyal to Starscream as Soundwave was to Megatron. *'Galvatron' (Leonard Nimoy) - Appeared in one episode as the resurrected form of Megatron, but was dead by the end of the episode. Humans *'Katie Wilson' (Tara Strong) - A tomboyish girl who became Billy's girlfriend. Others *'Unicron' (James Earl Jones) - A giant, planet-eating Transformer who's eventual goal is to destroy the universe. Category:Fan Fiction